PLEASE NOTE, THE TITLE SHOULD READ " M21 " NOT M81


This is a bit of a new venture for me, partly as I've never done anything allied before ( I only just realised how few allied vehicle build logs there are here lately ) and partly because this is being done mainly for practice at scratchbuilding detail so it will be a total budget build.

I picked up a cheap box lot of models that were to go into the spares bin or to use as practice horses for painting, weathering and damaged techniques. Amongst the box was three Tamiya M3 based half-tracks, the M3A2, the M21 and the M16. These were all built up but were really rather poorly done.

So I decided that I'm going to redo them and see what I can turn them into.

I'm starting with the M21 mortar carrier. I forgot to take "before" photos of it so have included photos of the M3A2 in its "before" state to give yo uan idea of the start point.

First thing will be to remove the paint and everthing that can come off easily.









And here's the M21 stripped down.

I had to cut the drive shaft to the cable motor to get the chassis off so I'll replace that. There were a lot of glue lumps and a lot of misaligned parts that had to be cut away so there will be a lot of repair work.

There are a lot of broken and missing bits but I'll address those in turn as I go.









My intention on this one is to use no AM at all, just what the kit came with, anything from the parts bin and the usual stuff from around the houe. Other than paint the goal is to spend zero dollars on it ( it cost me around $2 USD ).

I also know zero about US armour so I'll be learning as I go and I haven't yet figured out what to do about markings though I did get a bag of offcuts with the box of models so there may be something useful in there.

So if you know of anything that needs tweaking feel free to yell it out, just keep in mind the golden rule - "scratchbuilt parts only, no buying any AM stuff".

Can someone please change the title to M21 instead of M81 ( as noted below ) ? Thanks.

Dean,

It looks like you've got your work cut out for you. I've got some wrecks and half builts I've been considering doing similar things do, so I'll be watching this with interest.

Any hints for debonding the glued parts? Other than a sharp knife and a steady hand obviously

Don

What's a M81? It's called a M21.

hi Donald,
Us old model car guys used to put the car/model in the freezer overnight and the parts would pop off pretty easy. I've done it on some old military models too. Worked good.
good luck,
Jake

Thanks, happy to stand corrected, as I said I know bugger all about US armour. But that will make it easier to research it on the net.

Now there's a tip i could have used 6 hours ago. I've just finished several hours of carefully cutting away parts. Unfortunately I had to totally destroy the mortar base plate as it was glued on wrong so I'm scratchbuilding a replacement and have just finished a lot of clean up and filling. There were several spots where the glue left a pothole that needed fixing.

Will get photos up later today when teh sun is more suited to outdoor photgraphy but so far have done the following :

Replaced the broken rails on the side storage rack things.

Removed the drivers seat and realigned it.

Removed the windscreen frame and realigned it.

Removed the drivers door which was on crooked and then had to clean up the bottom of the frame and rebuild the bottom of the door.

Cleaned up a LOT of mould seams.

Added the middle handle to the jerry cans.

Replaced the two missing struts on the armoured cover for the windscreen.

Opened up the empty mortar shell slots to give them more depth.

Filled a lot of holes.

Realigned the front bumper section which was on crooked.

Detailed the .50 cal ( replaced the front and rear sights, added a cocking handle, hollowed the muzzle, opened up the cooling jacket holes and thinned the barrel changing handle ).

Still to do :

Redo the .50cal ammo box and tray

Make an aerial and mount.

Finish the mortar base plate.

Detail the track running gear and suspension.

Realign the tool boxes on the bumpers ( does anyone know if these were mandatory on the M21 ? )

Replace the wire frames for the canvas cover ( though I'm thinking of only doing the back one and just adding detail of the mounts for the other two ).

And then we'll undercoat it and see how it's looking.

This is an extremely cool project! It is beyond my skill-level, but you have already given me ideas for cleaning up any messes and mistakes I make.

Thanks,
Dave

If you wanted to you could do this as part of the Tank Overhaul Campaign
Cheers

Loobes

What technique did you use to remove all of that gnarly old paint?

I soaked the whole thing overnight in hydraulic brake fluid then rinsed and scrubed with a paintbrush then once I had stripped off what I could put it bak in overnight for a second soak etc.

The last few stubborn bits were dealt to with a scalpel blade and sanding stick but 99% came off in the brake fluid.

I'm a day behind at the moment due to a senior moment, I confused my putty so after coming back to it 12 hours later and wondering why it hadn't set I realised I'd used the two part putty without the hardener instead of the regular putty so had to clean it all out and redo it.

I'll try and get some photos up today, I'm just in the process of adding mountings for the canvas cover bows and widening the top edge of the body which from photos seems to be a lot wider with holes in it for the bows.

I have a few little things to do to complete the upper body like replacing rivets that got sanded way, finishing the top edging and adding ammo links from the box to the gun but going to try and get those done tomorrow as I'm going house shopping today.

Some progress shots as the wife and I have decided to go away for the weekend.













The white "pegs" at the back will be trimmed down to rivets.

I managed to get the rear door off which will now require a little cleaning up and the addition of the internal stowage boxes.

Only one side has the widened top of the bodywork and doesn't yet have the holes that allow the bows to go through into the mounts below.

Hopefully Monday I'll have all the upper bodywork done and the primer coat on so I can check for areas that need fine tuning.

Thanks. This technique may help me salvage an old ship model that has been in the bin for a couple of decades.

Dave

I use a soft toothbrush after the second soak but after the first one a half inch brush with the bristles cut down to around an inch long cleans it off well.

Last shots of the upper body before a fire on a coat of primer in the morning so I can what see blemishes need dealing to.

Finished the top edging and added the holes for the canvas bows which will be stored in the side racks.

Detailed the mortar by adding a sight ( just made from pieces of sprue and evergreen rod ), opening up the inside a bit more to give it more depth, replacing the central "leg" with a thinner one and adding the bracing chain across the legs ( would have liked a smaller chain for this but didn't have one handy ).

Made an aerial mount and aerial, added a field telephone and cord with a clip mount.

Decided I didn't like the Tamiya .50 cal ammo box so replaced it with an Academy tray and a length of ammo belt from the spares box.

Added stowage boxes to the rear door.

Replaced the filler caps on the jerry cans with ones from the spares box.

Added a couple of ammo cans from the spares box.

















Decided to pose it with the doors open as I'll resculpt some of the crew to be dismounting.

Still need to finish the suspension and detail the winch drum before the chassis is done.

Also raided the spares box for some stowage like a spare .50 cal barrel, .50 cal tripod, personal gear and weapons and will make some rolled tarps and stuff to go on as well. It should have a mortar base plate mounted on the rear so the mortar can be used dismounted but that never came with it so not sure what to do there as of yet.

Anyway, that's it for now. Pity I never did a before shot because it looks a long way from what it did when I got it.

Did you scratch build the sight on the 81? If so, can you give su a couple of close-up shots.....or even a bit or two on how you constructed it?

Thanks,
Dave

Yeah it's scratchbuilt using the drawing here as the reference.

This is the best I can manage but it tends to blur all the white bits of the evergreen strips into one lump. I'll try it again once it's primed to see if it can pick out the detail beter then. But basically it's just several pieces of varying diameter rod and a few rectangular bits glued in the right general location and then dials added using thin sections of stretched sprue. Those photos were taken before I finished it off with the collimator and the cross level so together there's 12 pieces to it ( sounds more complicated than it is, just takes time as you wait for each piece to set before adding the next ).

Just tried these now and not much of an improvement. Later on today when the sun is right and the primer has dried I'll do some progree shots and try for a couple of close ups to see how it comes out then.

Hi, thanks, I've just had a look at that and enlisted in it but to be honest I still haven't worked out how the campaign thing works. Is there a particular place to display the finished piece that is specifically dedicated to the campaign ?

Undercoat is on. Decided that as there was no PE to just try a rattle can of green paint that my daughter used for painting some dinosaurs. Works fine but goes on thicker than I expected so a little bit of build up in some areas to be addressed but I do like the way the gloss paint helps highlight any flaws that need addressing.

















So next step is to get the undercarriage finished and to tidy up the undercoat and add any stowage that can be painted on the vehicle. That may take a few days.

Quick progress update for anyone watching.

Did the rear springs, depened the hole in the exhaust pipe and redid the cable. Added a hook to the cable and replaced the moulded on cable with wound thread ( by my figuring a half inch cable in 1/35 is 1/3 of a mm so thread seemed the best option.

Not that you'll see that much of the cable as there will be a folded tarp and the spare tire tied over the top of the front bumper.

Most of the time on the chassis was spent on removing mould seams.







Next up is to undercoat the chassis and start on the stowage.

Great Build..or rebuild as the case may be. I can't tell you how many of my models ended up in the spares box because I never thought of refurbishing them after I totally messed them up. I'm following this one. Thanks for sharing. I love the scratchbuilt stuff.

Jeff

It's good to see someone going back to the roots of plastic modelling and scratchbuilding details to such an early release of a kit. It's all to easy to go and buy an aftermarket set, when you can get a lot more personal satisfaction of making detail yourself from something you've found at home.

Keep up the good work Dean, I'll be watching with interest

Totally agree with Andrew, awesome work Dean, keep it up man.

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

Hopefully I'll have progress photos up later today. Chassis is on and basecoat of OD is on.

Been working on some stowage for it.

In the end it turned out all I had in the way of usable decals was one small star so probably going to use that on the rear door as it's the hardest to get to now. The stars on the side and bonnet I'll paint on using a template.

The reading I've been doing seems to indicate that vehicles in combat had all vehicle markings other than the stars painted out so I'm going to go that route. I want to portray a vehicle of the 54th Armoured Infantry of the 10th Armoured Division and looking through photos in a book on the 10th that shows M3 half tracks, Shermans and Stuarts the only markings you can see are on a close up of a Sherman where thay have been smeared over with mud so that sounds like the way to go.

So I'll give the OD a couple of days to fully harden they tackle the stars. In the meantime the stowage is keeping me busy.

But will try to get some photos up later today. In the meantime I have an 8 year old wanting to go to McDonalds and Mini-Golf.